What Can a Haiku Anthology Do For Me?

“If you always do what you’ve always done,
you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”

I remember hearing this from a woman
whose face and name I’ve long forgotten,
sitting a few seats away from myself
in our little circle. Some of the best advice
I’ve ever heard was delivered right there
in that hospital room that had no beds
but did have a circle of chairs
(and for some reason, a pool table).

What is something different I can do, right now?

I remember a book of poems that I bought years ago
and never even opened once.

Doing the same thing over and over and expecting
different results is the definition of insanity.

I go to my neglected bookshelf and search.

If nothing is working, do something different.

I take it in my hands.
It’s a selection of “classic Japanese short poems”.
I get as comfortable as I can,
holding it in my lap.

Try something — anything — you haven’t tried yet.

I trace the elements of the covers with my fingertips,
consider the choices the designer made.
I appreciate the inclusion of texture
that I paid little attention to until today.

Change something. Spend the minutes.

I take a deep breath and
for the first time
in what feels like forever,
I open a cover.

Change anything. 

I begin to read.

December 28, 2025